Britney Spears - A Woman I Admire Essay -- essays research papers

There are many women that have an impact on my life; however, the question is how many of them do I look up to? Of course the most obvious person is my very own mother, but that made me think who else deserves to join this circle of reverence. Some names entered my mind, but do I really admire them? It is clear that women that enter my daily life like Oprah Winfrey have an impression on me, but impact and admiration do not always go hand in hand. Then I realized who I really admire: Britney Spears. The teen pop idol singer Britney Spears is a woman that I look up to for many reasons. She has tantalized the entire world's youth with her incredible voice. By doing so, she serves as a role model for many of the young people growing up in today's society. Although Britney is only 19, she al...

The Secret Recipe of The Body Shop

The Body Shop is the 2nd largest cosmetics franchise in the world; their stores are everywhere throughout the world – 2400 stores in 61 countries. Its brand name is something but simply, and represents the shop that sells all the goods for body, beauty, and healthcare from top to toe. Its logo is unique and also defines its simplicity, with the green color that describes nature – clearly indicates that the company is environmental friendly. Finally, you will notice that The Body Shop anywhere in the world will not ignore its famous, green, and white logo; and those two colors will be pretty, dominant in any Body Shop outlet that you visit. The Body Shop's products are naturally made and against animal testing. There's something special with the packaging – First of all, the tubes and bottles are recyclable, made by minimum 30% of plastics. The company is trying to reduce of using plastic for higher level recycled content every day. Body Shop also likes to recycled things and made it into accessories. So, aside from being useful and unique, it's highly eco-friendly. The entrepreneurs of Body Shop, Anita Roddick, succeeded not because of a capitalist goal which is profit, but she thought of ways to survive in the market. The body shop always born with new ideas and innovations, and they keep improving customer services. Here, we are going to describe more about The Body Shop and its secret recipe to succeed in franchising world. 1. Franchising Anita Roddick appointing a head franchisee in each major national market to be able to concentrate on the development on new product lines and the company's global vision, rather than the complexities of administration or personnel management. Body Shop has their secret ingredient of selecting its franchisee; that is openly acknowledged a preference for women as franchisees. Roddick kept strict control over the franchising process, she was really careful with this franchising thing. Her objective was to ensure that The Body Shop image and the principles it was based on, were not diluted through franchising. 2. Team Management â€Å"We were searching for employees, but people turned up instead† – Anita Roddick Body shop selects staffs that support the company's vision, and the employees aren't kept in the dark – they are supported in the belief that they are part of an exciting future. The value of integrity defines its interaction with its customers, staff and suppliers. The teams are managed to build their passion through a fun and simple atmosphere within the firm. The employees are knowledgeable and fully committed to the company's goals. The trustees of Body Shop look for projects which are committed to addressing social and economic injustice, access to education and protection of the environment and animal life, taking into consideration current global issues and situations. The directors and the employees can build a good correlation. These executive directors are the people who develop their company's performance plans. The plans are signed by the employees and then passed on to the management for approval. They make sure that company performance plans are complete and adequate before signing the forms. Executive directors also discuss the company performance plans with the employees in a clear and organised manner. Non-executive directors document their company's performance and provide feedback to the executive directors from time to time throughout the company performance cycle. Furthermore, the company is maintaining good relations and open communications with its investors. As a matter of fact, shareholders are regularly invited by the corporation whenever there are gatherings to discuss trade updates. Moreover, whenever there is an annual general meeting, investors get the chance to meet The Board members themselves. And of course, for private investors, they can also access the company's website for various shareholder services. Undoubtedly, the company has good consideration for all of its stakeholders; past, present and future. It seems to be a very well planned framework in the firm's corporate division. It has good policies and procedures with regards to financial matters and operational concerns. Its procedure of assessing the different kinds of situations that come up is certainly a good move on their part. Not to mention, they have maintained good relations with their stakeholders. 3. Training The Body Shop management trainee program provides autonomy, a challenge and gives the opportunity to run our own store. The trainee will spend the first year in one of their top performing stores as an assistant store manager and in the second year the trainee will manage their own store. During the program, the trainee will also spend time with The Body Shop Commercial team, get involved in project work at head office and gain an insight into what The Community Trade team does. Beyond the program, there are number of opportunities available from managing a store internationally to moving into a commercial role. The company will support their trainee with training, on the job learning, progress reviews and support from senior management. 4. Operation According to the Body Shop Retail Sales report, the total sales worldwide boosted by 7% to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½772 million (Body Shop International. With the growing market capacities of the Far East Asian region, international brands like Body Shop will definitely create big. It is reported that Body Shop stores in the Asia Pacific region, particularly in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, increase its sales by 12% while operating profits to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½19.7 million. In 2002, The Body Shop shoppers do not just go to its chains just to buy its products, because the Body Shop products themselves are the ones that go to the American homes. Surprisingly, the results are promising. It has predicted a 35% profit in operations. In operating process, body shop always born with new ideas and innovations of their product. Definitely, innovations are proven to increase business' performance and existence. The special thing about body shop operation is not just in the manufacturing, but also the services that the company offers. Body shop is campaign for social justice and human rights; they fund the organizations environmental campaign. 5. Marketing Products: The company â€Å"body shop† sells organically grown body products, for the consumer who likes to take care of him or herself. It is known for its cosmetic products that are naturally made and environment-friendly. These organically products is used by different women across the globe, and different products with different functions composed by the ingredients that come from different countries. (Ex: sesame seed from Nicaragua, shea butter from Gnana, coco milk, mangoes, strawberries, etc). Those ingredients are kept on improving along with the new ingredients. Price: The products are priced more exclusively than the mass merchandised cosmetics, but well under exclusive department store lines. We can conclude from here that the company has sufficient information about the customer's prices – company knows exactly its target group and knows what the target group is willing to pay, so the products actually are comparatively cheap; which means, still, there are lots of people can afford them. Place: The company is B2C related which means that its target group is consumers on the B2C market. They use a mixture between intensive and selective distribution. All the shops are run on a franchising basis. Their customers are willing to pay in high prices and are in the medium class or higher; so they put their store mostly at exclusive department store lines, big shopping centers, and located in major cities. Promotion: The company is against promotion, so they don't do business by promoting, but they have their own internet site, where you can see their selection of products. The unique thing about Body Shop's promotion, it deviates from its fellow cosmetics line with regard to its advertisements. It never made use of famous celebrities nor supermodels to endorse its products. Furthermore, the characteristics those models posses are far from the stereotypical model or from the Western standards. If we are to access the Body Shop International's website, as cited in this paper, we will find out that these models are black. From this we can derive that the pioneer of Body Shop ventures into something that is more than just business. There is politics behind. The cosmetic business is bound by principle. 6. Hazard Management The body shop provides safety to its customers. The products itself are naturally made and environmental friendly. They are against animal testing. So the company supports animal and human rights, and the economically climate. In October 2009, the Body Shop was awarded a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award' by the RSPCA in Britain, in recognition of its uncompromised policy which ensures ingredients are not tested by its suppliers. Note that the promise of not testing on animals has no bearing on whether the ingredients are from animal sources. They are unique with the outlet decoration. The Body Shop's corporate identity provided a consistent visual cue in its shops. The company's original shop interior concept, nicknamed the â€Å"green box† was developed to complement the corporate image. It featured a dark green modular system constructed in timber, and dark green tones on both the exterior and interior. CONCLUSION Lessons learned from The Body Shop's success – Authenticity adds value – The importance of staff selection – Globalization can lead to greater success – Don't confuse your personal strategies with business strategies. Here, a company must have clear strategies. – Advertising and marketing add value – Don't underestimate your competition

Job Motivation Essay

What is motivation? Motivation defined as the internal force that drives a worker to action as well as the external factors that encourage that action (Locke & Latham, 2002). This report aims to analyze the interviewee’s work motivation by using the job motivation theory. In this report, I interviewed a job incumbent. I will analyze the interviewee’s work motivation by applying the job characteristics model, expectancy theory and reinforcement theory. In this case, my interviewee was a secondary school teacher in Hong Kong called Miss Tse. She had been a teacher for twenty years. She teaches Chinese and Chinese history. Besides teaching, she needs to prepare notes for the students and solving problems from the students. Why Miss Tse choose teacher as her vocation? She mentioned that she loves get along with the children. Also she adores the duties of a teacher. So being a teacher had become her ideal. Hackman and Oldham proposed the job characteristics model, which states that five core job characteristics influence (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback) three critical psychological states that in turn lead motivation (Hackman & Oldham, 1975). The first core characteristic is skill variety. It refers to the need of different skills for the success of job tasks. In the case of Miss Tse, her work had a high variety. She mentioned that after the education reform and the changing of the society, the workload for the teacher had become greater than the past. Besides the high workload of the education, Miss Tse needed to communicate with the student and their parents more. She said that nowadays people are more individualism especially the parents, they concern on the academic result more than the personal growth. So Miss Tse needed to put more time on it. As a result the job variety had become higher.

The Phases of the Moon Explained

The Phases of the Moon Explained One of the most often-asked questions that astronomers get is: what are moon phases? Most people know that the Moon appears to change shape over time. Does it look round and full? Or more like a banana or a lopsided ball? Is it up in the daytime or the nighttime? Throughout each month, the Moon appears to change shape while it appears in the sky at different times, including in broad daylight!. Anyone can observe these changes as they happen. The Moons ever-changing shapes are called lunar phases. Gradual Change Anyone can Measure from the Back Yard A lunar phase is simply the shape of the sunlit part of the Moon as seen from Earth.  Phases are so strikingly obvious that we almost take them for granted. However, they can be observed throughout the month from the backyard or via a simple glance out the window. The Moons shape changes for the following reasons: the Moon orbits Earth;both Earth and the Moon orbit the Sun;the Moons orbit is the same length as the time it spins on its axis (about 28 Earth days), which means that we see the same part of the lunar surface all month;the Sun illuminates both Earth and the Moon. Get to Know the Lunar Phases There are eight phases of the Moon that to track each month. New Moon:  During New Moon, the side of the Moon facing us is not illuminated by the Sun. At this time, the Moon is not up at night, but it is up during the day. We just cant see it.  Solar eclipses can occur during the new moon, depending on how the Sun, Earth, and Moon line up in their orbits. Waxing Crescent: As the Moon waxes (grows) into its crescent phase, it begins to show up low in the sky right after sunset. Look for a silvery-looking crescent. The side facing the sunset direction will be lit up. First Quarter:  Seven days after New Moon, the Moon is in first quarter. Only half of it is visible for the first half of the evening, and then it sets.   Waxing Gibbous:  After First Quarter, the Moon appears to grow into a gibbous shape. Most of it is visible, except for a shrinking sliver over the next seven nights.  Look for the Moon at this time during the afternoon, too.   Full Moon:  During the full moon, the Sun lights up the entire surface of the Moon that faces Earth. It rises just as the Sun sets and disappears beneath the western horizon when the Sun rises the next morning. This is the brightest phase of the Moon and it washes out the nearby part of the sky, making it difficult to see stars and faint objects such as nebulae.   Supermoon:  Ever hear of a Super Moon? Thats a full Moon that happens when the Moon is closest in its orbit to Earth. The press likes to make a big deal about this, but its really a very natural thing. A Super Moon happens as the Moons orbit brings it closer to Earth on occasion. Not every month has a Super Moon. Despite the hype about Supermoons in the media, its difficult for the average observer to notice that the Moon might appear only slightly larger in the sky than normal. In fact, famous astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson pointed out that the difference between a regular full moon and a Supermoon would be about like the difference between a 16-inch pizza and a 16.1-inch pizza.   Lunar eclipses occur only at full moons because the Moon is passing directly between Earth and the Sun in its orbit. Due to other perturbations in its orbit, not every full moon results in an eclipse.   The full moon can appear slightly larger sometimes, creating whats called a Super Moon. Most people really cant tell the difference between them.  Still, its a great chance to observe the Moon!   The other full Moon variation that often grabs media attention is  a Blue Moon. Thats the name given to the second full Moon that occurs in the same month. These dont happen all the time, and the Moon certainly doesnt appear blue. Full moons also have colloquial names based on folklore. Its worth reading about some of these names; they tell fascinating stories about early cultures. Waning Gibbous: After the glorious appearance of Full Moon, the lunar shape starts to wane, meaning it gets smaller. Its visible later at night and into the early morning, and we see a steadily shrinking shape of the lunar surface thats being lit up. The side that is lit up is facing toward the Sun, in this case, the sunrise direction. During this phase, look for the Moon during the day - it should be in the sky in the morning.   Last Quarter: At Last Quarter we see exactly half the sunlit surface of the Moon and it can be in the early morning and daytime sky.   Waning Crescent:  The last phase of the moon before returning to New Moon is called Waning Crescent, and it is exactly what it says: a steadily-shrinking crescent phase. We can see only a small sliver from Earth.  Its visible in the early morning and by the end of the 28-day lunar cycle, it has vanished almost entirely. That brings us back to  New Moon to start the new cycle. Making Lunar Phases at Home Creating lunar phases is a great classroom or home science activity. First, set up a light in the middle of a darkened room. One person holds a white ball and stands a short ways away from the light. He or she turns in a circle, just like the Moon does as it turns on its axis. The ball is illuminated by the light in ways that almost exactly match lunar phases.  Ã‚   Observing the Moon throughout a month is a great school project, as well as something anyone can do on their own or with family and friends. Check it out this month!

A Detailed History of Crash Test Dummies

A Detailed History of Crash Test Dummies The first crash test dummy was the Sierra Sam created in 1949. This 95th percentile adult male crash test dummy was developed by Sierra Engineering Co. under a contract with the United States Air Force, to be used for evaluation of aircraft ejection seats on rocket sled tests. - Source FTSS In 1997, GMs Hybrid III crash test dummies officially became the industry standard for testing to comply with government frontal impact regulations and airbag safety. GM developed this test device nearly 20 years prior in 1977 to provide a biofidelic measurement tool - crash test dummies that behave very similarly to human beings. As it did with its earlier design, Hybrid II, GM shared this cutting-edge technology with government regulators and the auto industry. The sharing of this tool was made in the name of improved safety testing and reduced highway injuries and fatalities worldwide. The 1997 version of Hybrid III is the GM invention with some modifications. It marks another milestone in the automaker’s trailblazing journey for safety. Hybrid III is state-of-the-art for testing advanced restraint systems; GM has been using it for years in the development of front-impact airbags. It provides a broad spectrum of reliable data that can be related to the effects of crashes o n a human injury. Hybrid III features a posture representative of the way drivers and passengers sit in vehicles. All crash test dummies are faithful to the human form they simulate - in overall weight, size, and proportion. Their heads are designed to respond like the human head in a crash situation. It is symmetrical and the forehead deflects much the way a persons would if struck in a collision. The chest cavity has a steel rib cage that simulates the mechanical behavior of a human chest in a crash. The rubber neck bends and stretches biofidelically, and the knees also are designed to respond to impact, similar to human knees. The Hybrid III crash test dummy has a vinyl skin and is equipped with sophisticated electronic tools including accelerometers, potentiometers, and load cells. These tools measure the acceleration, deflection, and forces that various body parts experience during crash deceleration. This advanced device is being improved continuously and was built on a scientific foundation of biomechanics, medical data and input, and testing that involved human cadavers and animals. Biomechanics is the study of the human body and how it behaves mechanically. Universities conducted early biomechanical research using live human volunteers in some very controlled crash tests. Historically, the auto industry had evaluated restraint systems using volunteer testing with humans. The development of Hybrid III served as a launching pad to advance the study of crash forces and their effects on a human injury. All earlier crash test dummies, even GMs Hybrid I and II, could not provide adequate insight to translate test data into injury-reducing designs for cars and trucks. Early crash test dummies were very crude and had a simple purpose - to help engineers and researchers verify the effectiveness of restraints or safety belts. Before GM developed Hybrid I in 1968, dummy manufacturers had no consistent methods to produce the devices. The basic weight and size of the body parts were based on anthropological studies, but the dummies were inconsistent from unit to unit. The science of anthropomorphic dummies was in its infancy and their production quality varied. The 1960s and Development of Hybrid I During the 1960s, GM researchers created Hybrid I by merging the best parts of two primitive dummies. In 1966, Alderson Research Laboratories produced the VIP-50 series for GM and Ford. It was also used by the National Bureau of Standards. This was the first dummy manufactured specifically for the auto industry. A year later, Sierra Engineering introduced Sierra Stan, a competitive model. Neither satisfied GM engineers, who made their own dummy by combining the best features of both - hence the name Hybrid I. GM used this model internally but shared its design with competitors through special committee meetings at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Hybrid I was more durable and produced more repeatable results than its predecessors. The use of these early dummies was sparked by U.S. Air Force testing that had been conducted to develop and improve pilot restraint and ejection systems. From the late forties through the early fifties, the military used crash test dummies and crash sleds to test a variety of applications and human tolerance to injury. Previously they had used human volunteers, but rising safety standards required higher speed tests, and the higher speeds were no longer safe for human subjects. To test pilot-restraint harnesses, one high-speed sled was propelled by rocket engines and accelerated up to 600 mph. Col. John Paul Stapp shared the results of Air Force crash-dummy research in 1956 at the first annual conference involving auto manufacturers. Later, in 1962, the GM Proving Ground introduced the first, automotive, impact sled (HY-GE sled). It was capable of simulating actual collision acceleration waveforms produced by full-scale cars. Four years after that, GM Research originated a versatile method for determining the extent of injury hazard produced when measuring impact forces on anthropomorphic dummies during laboratory tests. Aircraft Safety Ironically, the auto industry has dramatically out-paced aircraft manufacturers in this technical expertise over the years. Automakers worked with the aircraft industry in the mid-1990s to bring them up to speed with the advances in crash testing as related to human tolerance and injuries. NATO countries were particularly interested in automotive crash research because there were problems in helicopter crashes and with high-speed ejections of pilots. It was thought that the auto data might help make aircraft safer. Government Regulation and Developing Hybrid II When Congress passed the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, the design and manufacture of automobiles became a regulated industry. Shortly thereafter, a debate began between the government and some manufacturers about the credibility of the test devices like the crash dummies. The National Highway Safety Bureau insisted that Aldersons VIP-50 dummy be used to validate restraint systems. They required 30 mile-per-hour head-on, barrier tests into a rigid wall. Opponents claimed the research results obtained from testing with this crash test dummy were not repeatable from a manufacturing standpoint and were not defined in engineering terms. Researchers could not rely on the consistent performance of the test units. Federal courts agreed with these critics. GM did not take part in the legal protest. Instead, GM improved upon the Hybrid I crash test dummy, responding to issues that arose in SAE committee meetings. GM developed drawings that defined the crash test dummy and created calibration tests that would standardize its performance in a controlled laboratory setting. In 1972, GM handed the drawings and calibrations to the dummy manufacturers and the government. The new GM Hybrid II crash test dummy satisfied the court, the government, and the manufacturers, and it became the standard for frontal crash testing to comply with U.S. automotive regulations for restraint systems. GMs philosophy has always been to share crash test dummy innovation with competitors and earn no profit in the process. Hybrid III: Mimicking Human Behavior In 1972 while GM was sharing Hybrid II with the industry, experts at GM Research began a ground-breaking effort. Their mission was to develop a crash test dummy that more accurately reflected the biomechanics of the human body during a vehicle crash. This would be called Hybrid III. Why was this necessary? GM was already conducting tests that far-exceeded government requirements and the standards of other domestic manufacturers. Right from the start, GM developed every one of its crash dummies to respond to a particular need for a test measurement and enhanced safety design. Engineers required a test device that would allow them to take measurements in unique experiments they had developed to improve the safety of GM vehicles. The goal of the Hybrid III research group was to develop a third-generation, human-like crash test dummy whose responses were closer to biomechanical data than the Hybrid II crash test dummy. The cost was not an issue. Researchers studied the way people sat in vehicles and the relationship of their posture to their eye position. They experimented with and changed the materials to make the dummy, and considered adding internal elements such as a rib cage. The stiffness of materials reflected bio-mechanical data. Accurate, numerical control machinery was used to manufacture the improved dummy consistently. In 1973, GM held the first international seminar with the worlds leading experts to discuss human-impact response characteristics. Every previous gathering of this kind had focused on injury. But now, GM wanted to investigate the way people responded during crashes. With this insight, GM developed a crash dummy that behaved much more closely to humans. This tool provided more meaningful lab data, enabling design changes that could actually help prevent injury. GM has been a leader in developing testing technologies to help manufacturers make safer cars and trucks. GM also communicated with the SAE committee throughout this development process to compile input from dummy and auto manufacturers alike. Only a year after the Hybrid III research began, GM responded to a government contract with a more refined dummy. In 1973, GM created the GM 502, which borrowed early information the research group had learned. It included some postural improvements, a new head, and better joint character istics. In 1977, GM made Hybrid III commercially available, including all the new design features GM had researched and developed. In 1983, GM petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for permission to use Hybrid III as an alternative test device for government compliance. GM also provided the industry with its targets for acceptable dummy performance during safety testing. These targets (Injury Assessment Reference Values) were critical in translating Hybrid III data into safety improvements. Then in 1990, GM asked that the Hybrid III dummy be the only acceptable test device to meet government requirements. A year later, the International Standards Organization (ISO) passed a unanimous resolution acknowledging the superiority of Hybrid III. The Hybrid III is now the standard for international frontal impact testing. Over the years, Hybrid III and other dummies have undergone a number of improvements and changes. For example, GM developed a deformable insert that is used routinely in GM development tests to indicate any movement of the lap belt from the pelvis and into the abdomen. Also, the SAE brings together the talents of the car companies, parts suppliers, dummy manufacturers, and U.S. government agencies in cooperative efforts to enhance test dummy capability. A recent 1966 SAE project, in conjunction with NHTSA, enhanced the ankle and hip joint. However, dummy manufacturers are very conservative about changing or enhancing standard devices. Generally, an auto manufacturer must first show the need for a specific design evaluation to improve safety. Then, with industry agreement, the new measuring capability can be added. SAE acts as a technical clearinghouse to manage and minimize these alterations. Just how accurate are these anthropomorphic test devices? At best, they are predictors of what may happen generally in the field because no two real people are the same in size, weight or proportions. However, tests require a standard, and modern dummies have proven to be effective prognosticators. Crash-test dummies consistently prove that standard, three-point safety belt systems are very effective restraints - and the data holds up well when compared to real-world crashes. Safety belts cut driver crash deaths by 42 percent. Adding airbags raises the protection to approximately 47 percent. Adapting to Airbags Airbag testing in the late seventies generated another need. Based on tests with crude dummies, GM engineers knew children and smaller occupants could be vulnerable to the aggressiveness of airbags. Airbags must inflate at very high speeds to protect occupants in a crash - literally in less than the blink of an eye. In 1977, GM developed the child airbag dummy. Researchers calibrated the dummy using data gathered from a study involving small animals. The Southwest Research Institute conducted this testing to determine what impacts the subjects could safely sustain. Later GM shared the data and the design through the SAE. GM also needed a test device to simulate a small female for testing of driver airbags. In 1987, GM transferred the Hybrid III technology to a dummy representing a 5th percentile female. Also in the late 1980s, the Center for Disease Control issued a contract for a family of Hybrid III dummies to help test passive restraints. Ohio State University won the contract and sought GMs help. In cooperation with an SAE committee, GM contributed to the development of the Hybrid III Dummy Family, which included a 95th percentile male, a small female, a six-year-old, child dummy, and a new three-year-old. Each has Hybrid III technology. In 1996, GM, Chrysler, and Ford became concerned about air bag inflation-induced injuries and petitioned the government through the American Automobile Manufacturers Association (AAMA) to address out-of-position occupants during airbag deployments. The goal was to implement test procedures endorsed by the ISO - which use the small female dummy for driver-side testing and the six- and three-year-old dummies, as well as an infant dummy for the passenger side. An SAE committee later developed a series of infant dummies with one of the leading test device manufacturers, First Technology Safety Systems. Six-month-old, 12-month-old, and 18-month-old dummies are now available to test the interaction of airbags with child restraints. Known as CRABI or Child Restraint Air Bag Interaction dummies, they enable testing of rearward-facing infant restraints when placed in the front, passenger seat equipped with an airbag. The various dummy sizes and types, which come in small, average, and very l arge, allow GM to implement an extensive matrix of tests and crash-types. Most of these tests and evaluations are not mandated, but GM routinely conducts tests not required by law. In the 1970s, side-impact studies required another version of the test devices. NHTSA, in conjunction with the University of Michigans Research and Development Center, developed a special side-impact dummy, or SID. Europeans then created the more sophisticated EuroSID. Subsequently, GM researchers made significant contributions through the SAE to the development of a more biofidelic device called BioSID, which is used now in development testing. In the 1990s, the U.S. auto industry worked to create a special, small occupant dummy to test side-impact airbags. Through USCAR, a consortium formed to share technologies among various industries and government departments, GM, Chrysler and Ford jointly developed SID-2s. The dummy mimics small females or adolescents and helps measure their tolerance of side-impact airbag inflation. U.S. manufacturers are working with the international community to establish this smaller, side-impact device as the starting basis for an adult dummy to be used in the international standard for side impact performance measurement. They are encouraging the acceptance of international safety standards, and building consensus to harmonize methods and tests. The automotive industry is highly committed to harmonizing standards, tests and methods as more and more vehicles are sold to a global market. The Future of Car Safety Testing What is the future? GMs mathematical models are providing valuable data. Mathematical testing also permits more iteration in a shorter time. GMs transition from mechanical to electronic airbag sensors created an exciting opportunity. Present and future airbag systems have electronic flight recorders as part of their crash sensors. Computer memory will capture field data from the collision event and store crash information never before available. With this real-world data, researchers will be able to validate lab results and modify dummies, computer-simulations and other tests. The highway becomes the test lab, and every crash becomes a way to learn more about how to protect people, said Harold Bud Mertz, a retired GM safety and biomechanical expert. Eventually, it might be possible to include crash recorders for collisions all around the car. GM researchers constantly refine all aspects of the crash tests to improve safety results. For example, as restraint systems help to eliminate more and more catastrophic upper-body injuries, safety engineers are noticing disabling, lower-leg trauma. GM researchers are beginning to design better lower leg responses for dummies. They have also added â€Å"skin† to the necks to keep airbags from interfering with the neck vertebrae during tests. Someday, on-screen computer dummies may be replaced by virtual humans, with hearts, lungs, and all the other vital organs. But its not likely that those electronic scenarios will replace the real thing in the near future. Crash dummies will continue to provide GM researchers and others with remarkable insight and intelligence about occupant crash protection for many years to come. A special thanks to Claudio Paolini

The effects of poverty and pollution on economy Research Paper

The effects of poverty and pollution on economy - Research Paper Example Sometimes, it is even the electricity that is at a threat of becoming abandoned where affording the costs in an inefficiently constructed home in relationship to electricity usage. In the following paper, the theory of the Cost of Living Index, the nature of suburban life is evaluated. Overview McGirr (2012) has discovered that the poor largely are populating the suburbs as once lush and comfortable sub-divisions now sit in ruins with burnt out landscapes that are no longer manicured and groomed to meet a standard of presence in the ‘keeping up with the Joneses framework of suburban myth. McGirr (2012) writes that â€Å"Keeping up with the Joneses,† the midcentury caricature of suburban conformity, materialism and consumption has given way to a new suburban normal of making ends meet, with many formerly middle-class families in detached single-family homes struggling to pay mortgages and utility bills, and to repair aging cars†. The Joneses are no longer competing for the best products and consumer glut, but are competing for food, maintaining ownership of their homes at the barest level, and for being able to keep what they have rather than attain the next big thing. Poverty rates have not only climbed because of the current economic downturn. McGirr (2012) reports that in the previous eight years to 2008, poverty rates in suburbs had been climbing to 25% with 51 million households reporting incomes at less than 50% above the poverty line. This trend may be simply due to the larger numbers of people that have gravitated to the suburbs and with larger populations are showing larger percentages of poor. After the growth provided by Roosevelt’s New Deal, the number of people that moved to the suburbs was a result of an increase from 40% of the population owning homes in 1940 to 62% owning homes in 1960. The percentage of homes in the suburbs in 1910 was 7%, but by 1960 that had reached 23%. The development of the identity of the suburban ite is one of the stronger personalities that have dominated the American culture in the last sixty years. Modern suburbia is the cultural equivalent to a sense of the elite, the success of the American dream represented by home ownership, two cars in the driveway, and a lush yard surrounding a relatively upscale home. In 1962 as the development of the suburb had created a generation of suburban dwellers, â€Å"Michael Harrington argued in â€Å"The Other America† that poverty survived amid broad prosperity precisely because it was invisible to most Americans (McGirr, 2012). The suburbs not only provided a sense of the American dream, but it was a shield from all that was not working in the United Sates. Mc Girr (2012) goes on to quote Harrington as he developed his discussion. â€Å"Living out in the suburbs,† Harrington declared,  in what now seems like quaint nostalgia, â€Å"it is easy to assume that ours is, indeed, an affluent society.†Ã‚  Americans, he suggested, no longer saw poverty just â€Å"on the other side of the tracks† in their towns and small cities, but as a distant problem of the inner city, glimpsed only fleetingly from commuter trains or highway traffic† (McGirr, 2012). McGirr (2012) writes that â€Å"The conceit that poverty is a problem suffered by other — often less deserving — people was an essential part of suburban self-identity that was reflected in its politics†

Harlequin Enterprises case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Harlequin Enterprises case - Essay Example This is because; the firm has faithful fans all around the world. From the statistics and history of the sales, it is evident that due to the tactics that the management used to market their writers, many fans would still buy any book that the company publishes. The strong loyalty that the company enjoys from its audience is enough to put the company back to the top as the leading romance publisher in the world. A successful launch of new titles would need tactics that the enterprise exploited in the past. Since the beginning of the enterprise, it exploited ideas that dealt with the situation at hand. The marketing methods reflected the customer needs, making the firm stay ahead of other publishing competitors. Another key method is changing the titles to match the interest of the audience at the time of publishing. The management moved from producing series to single titles when the need, was necessary (Ivey). This enabled them remain relevant to the audience no matter what direction the customer interest changed to. For good management to succeed, the managers need to be flexible and change according to the requirements of the